"The journey of a thousand ri proceeds step by step, so think without rushing. Understanding that this is the duty of a warrior, put these practices into action, surpass today what you were yesterday, go beyond those of poor skill tomorrow and exceed those who are skillful later... See to it that you temper yourself with one thousand days of practice, and refine yourself with ten thousand days of training. You should investigate this thoroughly."
~Miyamoto Musashi, The Book of Five Rings~

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Most people remember April 15th as tax day, but for the Hawaii Karate Kenkyukai, it was when we held our latest training session. The kata we studied were Seisan/Seishan/Hangetsu kata, Naihanchi/Tekki Sandan, and Anan.

Starting off with a little bit of karate history, the Seisan kata, also referred to as Seishan when using a more Japanese pronunciation, was introduced to Okinawa via Matsumura Sokon of Shuri. Despite this, it is considered to be a Naha-te kata, since it was originally taught in China and brought back to Okinawa. The fact that it is a “number” kata, literally meaning “13”, also lends credence to this idea, as that is a common indicator it was imported from China. This being said, three main variants appeared over the years, reflective of overall themes in Okinawan karate. The Shuri version was taught by Itosu while the Tomari version was taught by Chotoku Kyan, with both having learned Seisan from Matsumura Sokon. The Naha version was taught by Arakaki Seisho, who most likely directly imported Seisan from China at a later date than Matsumura. Gichin Funakoshi changed the name to Hangetsu (Half Moon) for Shotokan.

All three of the Naihanchi kata (Shodan, Nidan, Sandan) were created by Tudi Sakugawa. Some believe it was actually Itosu Anko who created Naihanchi Sandan, but according to Chibana Sensei, Itosu emphasized that all three Naihanchi kata should never be altered because they were created by a master as skilled as Tudi Sakugawa. Sakugawa created these kata using techniques learned while training in Peking (Beijing) in northern China. This is in contrast to many other Okinawan karate pioneers, who primarily studied in southern China, often in the Fuzhou area of Fukien (Fujian). The main focus of this kata is developing strong and powerful basics. These kata were renamed to Tekki (Iron Horse) by Gichin Funakoshi. As an interesting note, Kyokushin refers to them as Naihanchi, but use “Sono Ichi/Ni/San” rather that “Shodan/Nidan/Sandan”. “Sono” is a Japanese counter word that is roughly equivalent to “volume”, as different volumes of books, so they have Naihanchi Volumes 1-3.

The Anan kata comes from Naha-te Ryuei Ryu, which was the Nakaima family style only introduced to the public in the early 1970s. The version that Roberts Sensei performed was the Shito Ryu Hayashi-ha version, which they had added to their curriculum at some point after Ryuei Ryu became public. Like many karate kata, the name itself has no known meaning.

During the portion where the different schools explained a movement or set of movements and the fighting application, I noticed there seemed to be a common Naha-te theme in the Seisan kata of hitting an attacking arm and then a smooth transition to grabbing and pulling off-balance, as demonstrated in the meanings by Lemus and Nakata Sensei, rather than just trying to grab an attack mid-air. In addition, a lot of the other schools demonstrated the response to a reverse bear hug, which involved dropping the body weight and easily breaking the grip by bringing the arms forward. This effectively both raises the level of and separates the opponent’s arms without having to sacrifice a strong biomechanical position yourself. An even simpler response is just to drop weight and strike the opponent’s groin, which works even if the lock is much lower on the body.

A technical word of advice was given on the knee kick, which appeared in one of the meanings that was demonstrated. In order to effectively generate the greatest amount of force into the opponent, it is important to bring the opponent’s body down fairly low. When they are not brought down low enough, you will almost always find your grounded leg start to lift up or your striking leg having to reach out past your optimal power generation range in order to strike.

Friday, April 20, 2012

After a couple of February Sundays that first played host to the Super Bowl and the OSKA Shinnenkai, the Hawaii Karate Kenkyukai met once more on February 19, 2012. On the docket was the Seienchin/Seiunchin/Seiyunchin kata, the Kihon kata, Wankan/Okan/Matsukage, Kojo no Sai, and Wanchin.

Performing the Seienchin/Seiunchin/Seiyunchin kata were Kyokushin Karate, Senbukan Dojo, and Minakami Dojo, respectively. This kata is generally believed to have been passed down by Kanryo Higaonna who learned it while in China. There is also another version in the style of Ryueiryu, as founder Nakaima Kenri had also trained in China even earlier, as he was nearly fifty years older. Like most kata, the name’s meaning is lost in history, as it was passed down orally or written down in katakana without the use of Chinese characters.

Next up were the three Kihon Kata by OSKA. Chibana Chosin Sensei formulated these kata, which contain basic but powerful fighting sequences.

Following this, the schools performing Wankan/Okan/Matsukage were Island Ki, Hikari Dojo, International Karate League, Kenshukan, and Aikenkai. While Wankan is sometimes rendered as “King’s Crown”, the use of meaning derived from Chinese characters was something added retroactively, as the name had been passed down orally or written in katakana.

Rounding out the kata portion was Ryukyu Kobudo performing Kojo no Sai and Zentokukai performing Wanchin. Kojo no Sai is considered the oldest sai kata in Okinawa, having been passed down by the Kojo family. Wanchin is a kata created by Zenryo Shimbakuro Sensei for his dojo’s grand opening in 1962, and the name was derived from a combination of Wansu and Chinto.

After each school performed their kata twice and answered questions regarding the meanings of various movements after the second round, everyone partnered up to practice techniques from the kata as presented by each school. Indicative of their respective fighting methodologies, they ranged from stepping off-line to avoid an attack, combination strikes, grappling and catching techniques, to walking in directly to attack an opponent.

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"The purpose of training is to develop the body and to cultivate the mind."

Chibana Chosin (1885 - 1969)

Okinawa Shorin Ryu Karate Association - Hawaii

My teacher is Patrick Nakata Sensei. He teaches the Shorin Ryu karate he learned from Chibana Chosin Sensei, the Ryukyu Kobudo he learned from Sensei Fumio Nagaishi, and the kobudo he learned from Kyan Shinei Sensei.

Recommended Blogs and Sites

The Chibana Project
My best friend's project to gather information and conduct research about Okinawan karate legend and master Chibana Chosin.

Hawaii Karate Seinenkai
Website of an organization dedicated to karate in general and karate's history on Hawaii. Has great resources on the site.